Month: September 2017

ASD / Asperger people are defective? And neurotypicals are not? Really? This is the behavior we’re supposed to aspire to? What happened to the magical “social empathy” that neurotypicals are born with and that we lack?

Like this:

It’s the End of the World! Is this woman on drugs? Why not? How about an elephant tranquilizer? Not strong enough.

This is the type of person who has control of your child’s brain 6 hours per day… this is the reason Asperger children hate school! She’s TERRIFYING! Those teeth are like a barracuda coming to bite your head off!

Like this:

Can You Spell I-N-F-A-N-T-I-L-E ?

Unfortunately, teachers can be driven mad by students, and vice versa, in a system with no clear rules or standards or academic goals. In a society that places the highest value on “money” perhaps parents don’t value “free” education? Maybe parents ought to be responsible for directly paying teacher salaries; they would demand and get better teachers.

Like this:

Two articles directed at classroom teachers on the topic of rewarding students who practice good behavior. A rather strange cultural difference in attitude and perspective is presented: is this accounted for by the personal opinions of those who wrote the articles, or does it point out a critical culture difference in respective educational psychologies?

Like this:

This is a “problem” that has stymied me all my life: I’m sure it began way back in kindergarten, pre-school, the family living room, or even in the womb. Self-promotion.

I hate it. It tends to force everyone’s behavior to the lowest common denominator.

From the little curly-haired girl who would break into a screechy song and dance routine at every opportunity when adults were there to ooh! and aww! and pay attention, to the woman who wore crotch high skirts, and was overtly seductive toward male (or even female ) clients in business meetings, purposely distracting attention from the presentation of work we’d all busted our asses to produce, “competition” for attention has always upset me. Not REAL competition: not the question of which team can produce the best solution to a client’s needs; not “sporting” competitions or a “race to the moon” or even “fashion” in clothing.

It’s the “me, me, me” stuff that is popularly called narcissism. Attention for attention’s sake. Under this category I would include all those “talent” competitions children are forced into, like spelling bees (who really needs to know how to spell xxxxxx), “whose the prettiest toddler?” shows, and such, which pervert growing and developing talents into conspicuous exploitation, which can damage for life the poor kids who don’t win – or do. Neither am I on “the side” that believes bombardment by phony certificates, stars and bubble gum language is good for children.

Why all the manipulation by adults? Why not encourage and challenge individual kids to excel at whatever appeals to them, while introducing them to a wider world of interests and skills that may not at first seem “obvious” to them or to the adults who “own” them? Reward curiosity, exploration, insight. Kids are capable of so much more than being puppets for adult whims.

– the title of a blog post by “that guy” – the one who actually admits that Success is attention: here’s how to get attention. (He even has his own Logo: Are you “impressed”?) It’s his calling, I suppose, and a legitimate pursuit within the rules and parameters of modern culture, and fulfills a role that goes back to Ancient Pyramid cultures. The post is honest and obvious information for ASD /Asperger types about what is really going on in the social environment – and why we are baffled and uncomfortable.

“Unless you’re winning, most of life will seem hideously unfair to you.”

(I’m providing the link to the post: it involves many “cute” graphics, etc. And be sure to view the ABOUT page.)

Like this:

Meet Kaspar

Kaspar is a child-sized humanoid robot designed as a social companion to improve the lives of children with autism and other communication difficulties.

By interacting and behaving in a child-like way, Kaspar helps teachers and parents support children with autism to overcome the challenges they face in socialising and communicating with others.

Kaspar can

Act as a social mediator, helping children to better interact and communicate with adults and other children.

Help children to explore basic emotions.

Use a range of simplified facial and body expressions, gestures and speech to interact with children and help break social isolation.

Respond autonomously to touch, using sensors on its cheeks, arms, body, hands and feet, to help children learn about socially acceptable tactile interaction.

Engage in several interactive play scenarios to help children learn fundamental social skills such as imitation and turn-taking – skills that children with autism can find very challenging.

Engage pairs of children to help develop and improve collaboration skills.

Enable cognitive learning by playing games involving personal hygiene or food (Kaspar can hold a comb, toothbrush or spoon).

Engage children in confidence building activities by jointly singing a song or drumming.

Research trials

The robot has been developed through more than a decade’s research by the University of Hertfordshire’s world-renowned Adaptive Systems Research Group, led by Professor of Artificial Intelligence Kerstin Dautenhahn.

Following field trials in schools and family homes, researchers are working to make Kaspar available to every child that needs it. A first-stage trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Kaspar as a clinical intervention for the NHS is due to begin later in 2017.

Any questions? (Yes! Do the “humans” doing this R&D not see the irony in “replacing” neurotypical teachers, parents, friends, and psychologists with ROBOTS?)

We may speculate that:

neurotypicals are social robots, so robots are perfectly good substitutes for neurotypicals.

neurotypicals view ASD children as subhuman, so why bother interacting with them? After all, their social rank is the same as lab rats.

neurotypicals have no time, patience nor empathy for “diverse humans” and want to pawn off to robots the task of “teaching” ASD children, just like repetitive and boring tasks are performed by robots in factories.

a robot is a vast improvement over actual neurotypical persons; thanks to this R&D, ASD children will be spared the trauma of thousands of hours of being mistreated by neurotypicals.

How did a world expert in autism miss a diagnosis right under his nose?

That’s the question that Professor Tony Attwood still mulls over and deeply regrets.

The clinical psychologist is recognised as a leading authority in the diagnosis and management of Asperger’s syndrome. But all his skills and research couldn’t help his son Will.

It was only when the 35-year-old ended up with an overwhelming drug addiction and in jail for burglary that Professor Attwood had a sudden insight.

(Isn’t this strange and insulting at the same time? Attwood has made a career out of being a “big fan” of how autistics are a huge “gift” to the world! And yet, he only recognizes his son’s diagnosis after he’s 35 years old and is in jail? Sounds like the type of “neglect” that so many Asperger individuals suffer from in childhood and which is the cause of irreparable lifelong pain.)

While watching family videos of himself and Will as a four-year-old, Professor Attwood noticed an inability to connect with him.

“I was trying to interact with him, but even at the age of four, there was a barrier,” Professor Attwood said.

“[My daughter] Rosie is a teacher of kids with autismand we just turned to each other and said, ‘He’s Asperger’s’!”

Many have since wondered how a world expert on Asperger’s could overlook a diagnosis so close to home. But as Professor Attwood points out, the condition hadn’t even been given a name back in Will’s childhood. (Gee whiz! The “kid” is 35 years old? Did Atwood just ignore him once “autism” became popular as a label – that he helped to promote?)

He fell into the same trap that has plagued parents for years. (But he’s an expert, not an ordinary parent)

“We just thought he was a naughty, ADHD, difficult, emotional kid.”

Autism a gift not something to be ‘fixed’

Professor Attwood runs his clinic from underneath his house on the outskirts of Brisbane. Such is the demand for his skills, his waiting list is fully booked well into the future. He’s been researching autism for nearly four decades and is credited with writing “the bible” on Asperger’s syndrome. (4 decades=40 years > his son is 35.)

Asperger’s, also known as high-functioning autism, is where the brain is wired differently in terms of perceiving, thinking, learning, and relating to the world.

For the rest of the Ooops! We goofed excuses, go to:

From comments on the article/ I think this Asperger reveals what it’s truly like for many of us:

Autism cannot be ‘fixed’… since I was told at 21 and was taught to converse; 14 long years I have spent trying to build the skills to attempt to pretend to be human, that is all that can be done. I’ve literally met one employer in the last 20 years of employment who was willing to work with me on my social issues.

Teach your kids to fly under the radar or prepare for them to face a life of un/under-employment and isolation from a poorly educated and often anti-educated populace.

I’ve met dozens of people in my life who were extremely upset by the human looking thing that was not quite human. They were most often upset that I was free and independent.

No matter what all the articles, books, and TED talks say, Oxytocin isn’t a “hug hormone.”

The paper described an experiment carried out by Swiss scientists, who asked volunteers to entrust money in an anonymous partner. This anonymous partner could either repay their trust by reimbursing them, or betray them by keeping the cash. Amazingly, the volunteers entrusted more money to their partner if, before playing the game, they inhaled a hormone called oxytocin.

For years, scientists had shown that oxytocin matters for social interactions in animals. It prompts sheep and rats to show motherly care to their newborn babies, and it strengthens the bond between monogamous voles. But the Nature paper claimed that oxytocin “causes a substantial increase in trust among humans,” which really cemented the chemical’s fame as a molecular totem of human virtue.

In the decade since, other groups have shown that sniffing oxytocin makes people more generous, cooperative, empathetic, and constructive. Commentators have suggested using the hormone during couples therapy, or to promote social behaviors in kids with autism. Journalists can’t seem to write about it without calling it a “hug hormone” or “cuddle chemical.” And the third author of that Nature paper has repeatedly and misleadingly promoted the substance as a “moral molecule,” in interviews, a book, and a TED talk.

But recently, several scientists have shown that this tower of evidence for oxytocin’s positive influence is built on weak foundations.